Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your crockery and cutlery might really be harder for your machine than getting them clean. Crockery and cutlery and glasses have multiple nooks and crannies that could trap dishwater making it more difficult for it to evaporate, plus as your appliance loses heat water condenses out of the humid air.

Different machines also employ a number of means to get your dishes dry. Some opt for a heating coil to warm the air in the machine and assist with evaporation, some heat up the water to a higher temperature nearing the final rinse, others use a fan, and certain models employ a mix of all three. There are thus a number of explanations why your dishwasher may not be drying dishes fully and a variety of options to improve the situation.

Plastic is less likely to dry fully than other materials as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth taking note whether the drying issue is related to the material rather than the machine.

If your dishwasher doesn’t seem to be drying properly you can enlist the help of a dishwasher repair service or first make use of this troubleshooting list to help you identify and rectify the issue.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Crockery and Cutlery

There is nothing more irritating than a home appliance that doesn’t work as it should, whether that’s a smartphone that really isn’t being that smart, a washing machine that’s churning out dirty clothes, or a dishwasher that is either not cleaning or drying your crockery and cutlery. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates there are a number of places you can look to help you figure out why.

Not all makes and models are built to the same spec and some dishwashers do a better job of drying your dishes than others. However, if if your dishwasher has always dried your plates in the past one of these faults might be the problem.

Inspect How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

Sometimes there is nothing actually wrong with the appliance. Before assuming the appliance is broken you should first check that you haven’t overfilled it or accidentally stacked items one inside the other. Also be aware that plastic items are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Have a Look at The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your dishwasher needs rinse aid to properly dry your crockery and cutlery and so if you’ve forgotten to top up or the rinse aid dispenser is faulty this can stop your crockery and cutlery coming out properly dry.

The best thing to do is inspect the dispenser for cracks and ensure that it’s full.

Inspect The Heating Element

Without enough heat your dishes will not dry so a faulty heating element might be the reason your machine is not working as it should. If your dishes aren’t hot at the end of the cycle this can be a good indicator that the heating coil isn’t working as it should.

To inspect the heating coil you will need to disconnect the machine, find the heating coil, you could need the instruction manual for this, then use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Check the Thermostat

The thermostat stops your dishwasher getting too hot, regulating the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. Therefore, if it’s not working this can result in your dishwasher not reaching a high enough temperature.

If the heating element seems to be in working order but your dishwasher isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat might be the problem. Again you can make sure using a multimeter.

Have a Look at The Fan and Vent

Many appliances will employ a drying fan and vent to remove the warm moist air from the machine. If either of these elements are broken then the water vapor will condense on the dishes instead preventing them from drying.

You can make use of your user manual to ascertain if your machine uses a fan and locate it. Don’t forget to make sure the machine is unplugged before attempting to make repairs.

First visually inspect the fan and vent to check if anything is blocking it that might prevent it from functioning as it is supposed to. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Ways to Boost Drying Power

There are a variety of things you can do to improve how well your appliance dries your dishes and make sure you have to hand dry as little as possible.

Don’t overload the dishwasher. Overloading the machine inhibits the circulation of air and water making cleaning and drying your plates more difficult. It could be appealing to cram everything in but you will get better results if you leave sufficient space so that crockery and cutlery are not touching.
Utilize rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets include a rinse aid but even if the brand you use says it does, adding a separate rinse aid to the machine can only improve matters. Rinse aid works by breaking the bond between water molecules and your plates, helping water run off quickly, speeding up drying time and giving a spot and streak free finish.
Open your appliance as soon as the cycle has finished. Some new models do this automatically, but many do not, thus, opening the door at the end of the program can help allow the water to evaporate thus stopping water condensing on the plates as the appliance cools down.
Check if your dishwasher uses a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. The higher the heat the better the drying and it may be possible to choose which points in the cycle you add more heat.
Empty the lower level first. This doesn’t affect how effective your machine is, but it stop and water spilling that has collected in the concave bottoms of cups and glasses.

If you have checked all the above it could be a good idea to phone an engineer or even upgrade your dishwasher.